Of Yellow and Lavender
by Azure Kagura
Summary: A collection of drabbles/short one-shots about Naruto and Hanabi that are all loosely related, yet self-contained. NarutoxHanabi romance and friendship. Light-hearted and happy stories, sweet and humorous stories. Latest Chapter: Sweet Denial Pt.2.
1. Predictable

So... uh, long time no see? It's been about a year and a half, huh.

Well, I didn't really abandon fanfiction, but I'd been more interested in the makings of an original work of mine. Still, I kept up on this site, reading any stories that looked worthwhile, and keeping up with the ones that I liked that were still updating. Most of those were crossovers though, heh.

Anyway, I'm not going to drag my "return" on, so I'll just comment a bit on what this is.

This is just a collection of short drabbles about the pairing of Naruto x Hanabi. There will be a loose continuity between all of them, because that makes things more fun and interesting, but they're mostly self-contained. They aren't going to be very long, at the very least one thousand words a chapter, but not too much more than that.

I'm mostly writing these just for fun, I suppose, so don't be surprised when I don't update for a prolonged period of time.

Anyways, I don't know the characters or setting or basically anything about this, but I do own this "story".

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Predictable: Just as Expected<strong>

Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi born of Konoha, student of the late Toad Sage Jiraiya of the Sannin, self-proclaimed (future) "Orange Hokage", and ninja bearing the title of "Most Unpredictable Ninja".

Now see, Hyuuga Hanabi would have agreed with you up until that last part.

Naruto was definitely born in Konoha. There was no one who loved the village more than he did, after all! Hanabi would have to agree.

Naruto was definitely the Toad Sage Jiraiya's student. It was a fact, after all. It was hard to disagree with the facts. Hanabi would have to agree.

Naruto was definitely proclaiming himself to be the "Orange Hokage", even if he wasn't even Hokage yet. Hanabi would have to agree.

However, Naruto was by no means the "Most Unpredictable Ninja". No way, not at all! Hanabi would have to DISAGREE.

In fact, it was quite the opposite, she would say.

There was no one more predictable than Uzumaki Naruto, according to Hanabi.

Hanabi had met her fair share of people during her life. She'd met many people, and generally, she could place people under various categories.

However, Naruto was in a category all on his own.

He was rude yet kind, loud yet gentle, annoying yet lovable. Surprising... yet predictable.

"Naruto, explain yourself," the young Hyuuga stood steadfastly in front of the older blond, hands on her hips as she looked at him with disdain.

"Er, H-Hanabi-chan, it's not what it looks like!" Naruto inched the side, yet making sure he remained in Hanabi's vision, as if to block something from her vision.

"That... looked like ramen to me," Hanabi started slowly, "and I'm sure you remember that you agreed to stop stockpiling ramen in your house."

"I-i-it's not ramen, Hanabi-chan! I-it's just, uh..." Naruto looked up and down, left and right, as if trying to find an excuse written somewhere on the walls of his apartment.

"... Empty ramen containers? Yeah, right," she spoke stoically, gazing at the frantic and panicked blond passively.

"H-how'd you know I was going to say that?"

"Because only you would say something so stupid," Hanabi sighed, crossing her arms across her chest.

"H-hey! Collecting empty ramen containers isn't that odd! ... Is it?" Naruto crossed his arms as well, and tilted his head inquisitively.

Without bothering to answer, Hanabi shoved her way past Naruto rather... ungracefully, and stuck her arms into the open cupboard that Naruto had been trying to hide from her. With a single motion, she'd thrown all instant ramen cups into the open, leaving the inside of the cupboard empty.

There was a reason she'd made her trip over to his apartment today, after all. Hanabi had expected that he'd secretly hoard ramen out of sight from her, but he could never fool her.

"No, don't! How could you do that to my precious ramen?" As if checking a toddler for injuries, he gently yet quickly inspected the ramen cups carefully, not unlike a father would his own child.

"F-fine, I'll get rid of these, are you happy now?"

"Nope," Hanabi answered without missing a beat. She stood up from the cupboard, and gave Naruto's apartment a once-over.

"Now where else did you hide ramen...?" She inquired outloud, but it was less of a question towards Naruto than it was towards herself.

"I-I d-d-didn't hide ramen anywhere else. I-I wouldn't lie to you, Hanabi-chan! Come on, believe me!" However his pleas were ignored as Hanabi stepped over to a particularly noisy wooden plank she'd always kept note of.

"H-hey, get away from there!" Naruto stood up and moved to stop Hanabi, leaving his precious ramen cups alone, but he was too late.

With a swift movement of her foot, she'd removed the plank, revealing a dozen instant ramen containers...

Just as she'd expected.

Leaving the shocked blond alone, she began her raid of Naruto's apartment... so to speak.

Behind the dresser and inside covered up hole in the wall?

Just as expected.

Under his bed and under another loose wooden plank?

Just as expected.

The hollowed-out insides of his couch?

Just as expected.

Inside a hole in the ceiling conceiled by his lights?

Just as expected.

Inside the wall behind a loose tile in his bathroom?

Just as expected.

"Th-that's... that's all of... b-but how? You didn't even use the Byakugan! How'd you know all of my hiding spots?" The blond teen looked at Hanabi flabbergasted and utterly bewildered, "you... you cheated! That's the only way!"

"... All of the hiding spots?" The white-eyed Hyuuga elegantly raised an eyebrow at Naruto, but didn't continue to speak.

Under Hanabi's unrelenting gaze, Naruto broke out into a cold sweat, and unconsciously took a step back.

"Oh, yes... how could I have... forgotten... about that spot?" She spoke slowly, yet loudly, making Naruto flinch.

It was obvious to him that she'd "conveniently" just "forgot" about a certain spot, but he wouldn't give in. If he reacted now, he would only just confirm it...! That he had one spot left! He had to believe that she didn't know. She couldn't know. There was no way for her to know...

While Naruto's thoughts were racing at a mile a minute, Hanabi began walking towards his window and...

"To think you'd go this far..." Hanabi shook her head slowly, and reached out towards the window...

... And for his flower pot.

"N-no! H-how... w-why!"

Gently, Hanabi raised the flower pot with a single hand, and with her free hand, removed the bottom of the pot. However, instead of dirt falling, out came...

Ramen.

Just as expected.

"This is an unusually big pot, you know?"

Naruto fell to his knees, utterly defeated. He whispered to himself depressedly, uttering nonsense that Hanabi didn't feel like bothering to translate into something she could understand.

"Oh, grow up, you big baby," the Hyuuga girl berated him as she walked over the blond.

"B-but..."

Hanabi crouched down so that she her head was level with Naruto's. With a single extended finger placed on the blond's chin, she raised his head so that they were staring at each others, blue eyes contacting white eyes.

Before he could speak, Hanabi moved forward in a quick movement, and lightly kissed him on the lips. She moved back and stood up, the edge of her lips curved upwards in a small smile.

"Cheer up, okay?"

Naruto blushed, and remained uncharacteristically quiet as he stood up, and gave her a sheepish grin. His face was still red, but Hanabi could tell he was definitely happy about the kiss, and she knew her attempt at cheering him up had worked.

... Just as expected.

* * *

><p>The first of, hopefully many, to come. Neither beta'd nor actually proof-read by myself, but I think I did a good-job of keeping it error free. I think. I am just writing these for fun, so I'm not <em>too<em> concerned about quality, but I do try to do as well as I can either way.

Hanabi: So, after a year and a half, you come out of nowhere with... this?

Well, I'd been working on other things. In fact, I'm working on a crossover at the moment, but how that turns out will remain to be seen. I do have a lot of free-time these days though, so hopefully I'll update somewhat regularly with this, and perhaps get the crossover out too.

Naruto: All criticisms are welcome, and we hope you enjoyed reading it!


	2. I Hate You

Technically, to me it's still the same day I posted the first chapter of this. I haven't slept yet, you know.

I started writing this a lot earlier, actually, but as I was halfway-done I got distracted by talking with my friends and videogames that I just time just flew by, and thus, around 5AM in the morning, I am posting this.

Another Hanabi-focused drabble. Not quite as humor-focused as the last, rather, it's meant to be a sweet and touching story. Still, enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>I Hate You: I Love You<strong>

Hanabi was... angry.

Furious, even.

To say the least, anyway.

"I hate you, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto stood dumbfounded as he listened to Hanabi shout that before she stomped off and away from him, uncaring of the fact that there was a crowd watching them.

Of all the people, why did she even fall in love with Uzumaki Naruto?

And why did he have to be such an insufferably, annoying, loud-mouthed, rude, idiot of a man?

Sometimes she wondered about herself. Just where did she end up going wrong, to end up with HIM of all people? And why did he have to be so... so... so...!

Hanabi couldn't think of a word that fit, so she decided with what worked best: stupid.

"Stupid blonds, stupid fox-face, stupid orange-wearing dunce, stupid Hokage-wannabe, stupid ramen-obsessed freak, stupid stupid stupid..."

She was annoyed. She was irritated. She was angry.

She was fuming. She was furious. She was livid.

Or...

... So she would like to say.

But as soon as she'd left the blond, her anger dissipated within moments, and she was left with a dull, empty feeling in her stomach.

She regretted acting out like that.

"Maybe I'm the stupid one," Hanabi whispered to herself, "I shouldn't be so childish... that's Naruto's job," she smiled bitterly to herself.

Hanabi was in a rather deserted street of Konoha, where she felt a sense of a solitude. She could not see anyone, or hear anyone, so she let herself relax a bit.

She took the moment to review what had happened moments ago, while she was still with Naruto.

Hanabi and Naruto were... on a date. It had been a long time since their last one; over 3 months, even! So Hanabi had greated anticipated this day's, this special day, arrival, counting off the days for the past few weeks.

However, things had gotten off to a rocky start.

First, Naruto had been late to picking her up. About 15 minutes late, nothing she couldn't handle. Even so, she'd still been slightly annoyed when the blond arrived. He apologized almost immediately, telling her he'd lost track of time. She forgave him.

The day was well into the evening, and the sun had already set, so the first thing on the pair's agenda was to head to a restaurant Naruto had made reservations at for dinner. However, just moments before they'd gotten there, Naruto had remembered that he'd forgotten to actually make the reservations. Needless to say, Hanabi was both disappointed... and irritated. However, this was still a Naruto-like thing to do, so remained patient.

However Hanabi had to wonder just how much this date meant to Naruto; she'd looked forward to this day for months, and was, though she'd never say it, extremely excited when the day finally arrived. However, Naruto had destroyed her hopes of a perfect date quite quickly. Of course, since it was Naruto, Hanabi hadn't really expected the "perfect date" anyway.

After that, Naruto offered to take her to Ichiraku's, Naruto's favorite ramen stand. Though Hanabi had had better ideas to go for a date, she begrudgingly decided to go with Naruto's idea.

That had went relatively well, though she'd gotten more than her fair share of odd stares. After all, what was a girl such as herself, all dressed up and presumably on a date, doing at a ramen stand?

When they'd finished, Hanabi asked Naruto where they were headed next. Naruto had then laughed sheepishly to himself, telling the white-eyed girl that he'd forgotten what he had planned to do after they ate, but he didn't seem to care much and proceeded to ask Hanabi where she wanted to go instead.

After hearing that he'd forgotten, of all things, and seeing his uncaring attitude, Hanabi felt terrible and was upset. Did this date really mean so little to him? It had meant so much to her. So she couldn't help but wonder... did SHE mean so little to him?

Hanabi bit her lip, but answered Naruto's question in the end. After a moment of consideration, she decided she'd like to take a walk through a park, in hopes of helping her relax and quell her growing sadness.

The park they entered was somewhat crowded, and Hanabi noticed that there were many couples about. None of them seemed to pay any attention to each other, so she decided to follow in their example and just focus on her own partner instead.

... Who had left her behind, she noticed, as she was looking around the park. Naruto was a bit ahead of her, and he didn't seem to notice that she was still standing around at the entrance.

And that was when Hanabi had snapped.

She marched up to him, forcefully turned him around, and slapped his cheek.

She didn't bother explaining.

... For she felt that if she spoke for too long, she might begin to cry. She didn't want to do that.

So, she chose her words carefully.

"I hate you, Uzumaki Naruto!"

And now here she was, standing alone in an empty street, filled with regret, and...

Sadness.

Yes, that was the feeling she'd felt this entire time. Not anger. Anger was just an excuse so that she wouldn't cry. She didn't want to cry.

She felt that if she cried, she'd be admitting to herself that Naruto really didn't love her.

So Hanabi held in her tears. Because she didn't want that to ever happen.

"Hanabi-chan..." A voice called out softly behind her. In her reminiscing, she didn't hear or sense Naruto coming at all.

It was a voice she was very familiar with... but a voice she didn't want to hear right now.

Without bothering to turn around, Hanabi dashed off, hoping to get away from him.

"Hanabi-chan, wait!"

She didn't bother listening, and continued running off. She took multiple turns, jumped over buildings and fences, without paying heed to where she was even going.

Unable to sense Naruto anymore, Hanabi finally stopped and took a good look at her surroundings. She was currently on a small grassy hill, located just outside Konoha's walls. Hanabi sat down, hugging her knees to her chest, and looked despondently at her home village.

"Today... was supposed to be a special day, too... Idiot..." Tears threatened to spill from the corner of her eyes, but she blinked them back and returned to silence once more.

She continued to just sit there, mind blank, and stare at the village for some time. If even for a little while, she was at peace, if you could call it that.

Until she heard footsteps, that is.

"There you are, Hanabi-chan... I've been looking for you," it was Naruto again. The footsteps approached her softly, but Hanabi made no movements this time. She was tired now, and didn't feel like running away anymore.

He didn't say anything yet, and instead, merely took the moment to take a seat to her right on the grass beside her.

Hanabi discreetly turned her gaze over to the blond, who had been silent since he'd sat down.

After a full minute had passed, Naruto finally opened his mouth to speak.

"I, uh... I was going to give you this later, but now looks like a good time," Naruto dug into the pocket of the jacket he was wearing, and pulled out a small box. He handed it over to the dark-haired girl beside him, who cautiously accepted it.

Hanabi slowly opened it, to reveal a pair of modest, yet charming earrings. They were made of gold, and attached to them were small red oval jewels that hung down. They weren't gaudy or pretentious, but neither were they superbly beautiful or graceful. But she didn't mind. She didn't need that. All that mattered was that they were for her... and they were from Naruto.

"Happy birthday, Hanabi-chan," Naruto whispered, but loud enough for her to hear. Her eyes widened, and she turned to the blond alarmed.

"Y-you... remembered?"

"What, you thought I'd forget? There's no way I'd forget your birthday Hanabi-chan!" Naruto looked slightly offended, but he smiled regardless, which filled Hanabi with a sense of reassurance.

"But... today's date... I was look forward so much toward today, and you... well... I thought you didn't like me anymore..." Hanabi spoke meekly. Sometime during that, she started leaning against the blond, her head resting on his shoulders.

"O-oh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly with his free hand, "I guess I could have handled that better, huh? Er, you see, I do have an explanation, but I guess it's no excuse."

"Ex... planation?" She was curious, but didn't inquire further, since it was apparent that Naruto was already going to explain everything.

"W-well, you see. I-instead of planning out a date, I actually planned out a surprise birthday party for you," Naruto grinned nervously, "but we couldn't finish preparations in time, so I was going to take you out on a 'date' for a bit and then head to the party. And I... well, I guess I didn't handle that well and hurt your feelings. I'm sorry."

"A birthday party...?"

"Actually, it was Hinata's idea, you know," Naruto felt he should point out, "she wanted to do something for her little sister and I agreed to help, and well... Y-you know, the party was supposed to have start a while ago, but I told them that we wouldn't be there yet! W-we can go whenever you're ready, Hanabi-chan."

"I-I see..." She was surprised, to be sure.

But she was happy.

So happy, she couldn't help but cry.

"H-Hanabi-chan...?"

Hanabi snuggled closer towards the blond shinobi, basking in his warmth. She slipped her hand into Naruto's, and laughed softly to herself as she cried at the same time.

"I hate you, Naruto."

Naruto looked alarmed for a brief moment, but realized what Hanabi had meant, and smiled gently at the younger girl, and squeezed her hand gently.

"I love you too, Hanabi."

* * *

><p>Now, I'm going to go to sleep. Please, tell me what you think!<p>

Hanabi: All criticisms are welcome. Now, this idiot better go to sleep before he collapses or something.

Naruto: Hey, I'm not an idio-oh, wait. You meant _him_. Nevermind.


	3. Babysitting

Here's chapter 3! Featuring Naruto's point of view, for once. This one takes place a bit into the future compared to the other two chapters as well. There are few hints to help you place this onto a timeline, that are dropped rather indiscreetly, the most important of which is mentioned a bit near the end.

Remember, I'm writing all these drabbles/one-shots with continuity in mind, even if they can be read on their own.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Babysitting: Man vs. Baby<strong>

The... thing cried out loudly, making him wince as he tried to soothe it and figure out what was wrong.

"H-hey, don't cry... please?"

It ignored him, as though it hadn't heard him at all, and he slumped down in his chair as he stared at... it.

The baby.

The baby cried, and cried, and cried, and he absently wondered when that baby girl would run out of breath.

Uzumaki Naruto silently cursed, and resumed his efforts to calm the baby down, though most of his attempts were fruitless.

WHY was he babysitting?

"I'm the Hokage, damnit! This is like a D-rank mission that **I** would give Genins! So why is the Hokage stuck on babysitting duty?" He ruffled his hair irritatedly, his own sapphire blue eyes staring into the baby's clear, white eyes, a clear sign of the girl's blood.

"Wait, if I remember, Hanabi-chan gave me something to help me out... now where did I put it..." Though her crying had gotten quieter, it had yet to stop, placing the blond Hokage into a panic as he turned around in various ways, trying to find the object he sought.

"Ah, here it is!" He grabbed the object, which had been placed off to the side of his desk, behind a stack of papers, took a good look at it, and remembered what it was.

"A rattle... right... aren't these things supposed to be useless? At least, I've never heard of them ever being useful in making babies stop crying..." Naruto muttered to himself, nevertheless attempting to give it a shot as he walked up to the baby cradled placed to the side of his office.

"H-here ya' go... p-please stop cryin' now..." He shook the rattle lightly above baby. Naruto kept the effort up, ushering soothing words (he'd never imagined himself ever doing this, and he'd doubt he'd ever live it down if one of his more... gossipy friends saw this) as he tried his utter hardest to make the damned baby STOP CRYING.

... And stop she did. Slowly, but surely, the baby's crying quieted down, the girl now staring wide-eyed at the rattle.

Though Naruto didn't show it, he was indeed shocked.

'Huh, these rattle things are more useful than I thought!' He thought to himself, never once slowing down his shaking of the rattle in fear that she might start to cry again.

Then the she giggled, cooing and reaching out towards the rattle.

And Naruto felt like his heart just melted.

"No, Naruto!" He shouted outloud, towards nothing but himself, his voice echoing throughout his office, "don't be fooled! These things are dangerous... if you let your guard down, they'll chip away at your sanity until there's nothing left and you turn into a sociopathic mass-murderer!"

The baby laughed again.

"Stop that!"

Another laugh.

Apparently she thought he was either funny... or funny-looking, as the baby stared happily at the blond, who began to sweat.

"Wh-what is it? I-is it my hair? It's my hair isn't it! What's wrong with my hair?"

Yet another giggle.

"H-hey, stop laughing at me, kid..." Naruto placed his hands on the cradle and peered closer inside at the baby, who's silly smile and the hint of drool at the edge of her face betrayed what Naruto knew her true, devious intentions were.

And yet he fell for it anyway.

"Hey kid, ya' got some drool on ya' there..." He reached in and lifted up the light-as-a-feather baby (to him), and reached for her bib, using it to wipe away the saliva away from her cheeks.

However, before he could retract his arm, the baby, with surprisingly quick speed (or so Naruto would say), grabbed his index finger.

Naruto froze.

"Wh... what are you going to do with that," he eyed the baby girl suspiciously, "I-I'll have you know, I'm a pretty strong guy! I-I could probably kill you before you could even cry for your mommy! S-so l-let go now, o-okay?"

Why was he threatening a baby?

Or rather...

Why was he so scared?

The young baby, slowly, pulled over Naruto's finger towards her face. The blond broke out into a sweat as his finger continued to inch on over, ever closer.

Until finally...

She placed his finger inside her mouth.

"AWW GROSS, now I've got baby spit all over my finger! H-hey, let go! You're getting slobber all over my finger!"

She didn't listen.

Instead, she bit down.

"O-ow! I-I mean it, stop it right now! O-or, or I'll...!"

Why couldn't he think of anything?

The baby continued to bit and drool all over his finger, and Naruto was powerless to stop her.

Powerless.

To think, the Hokage, strongest shinobi in the village of Konoha, could lose without even being able to do anything...

To a baby, of all things!

So...

He waited, until the baby would stop sucking on his finger and let go.

And waited.

And waited...

And...

"Hey, is my finger really that tasty?"

The baby girl only blinked.

"I bet I taste like ramen."

The baby giggled while the tip of his finger was still in her mouth, obscuring the laughter.

Naruto groaned, and decided that he'd rather sit down while this happened so that he could rest his legs, and sat down in his desk chair, baby still in his arms. And then, just when he was about to relax himself...

"Oh, Naruto?" A muffled voice rang out from behind the doors to his office, and a knock followed afterward. Without waiting for an answer, the owner of the voice opened the doors and strode inside, as if she owned the place.

"Hanabi-chan? What're you doing back here? I thought you were helping out Hinata with... whatever it was," he looked as his fiancee and questioned her, raising an eyebrow and completely ignorant of Hanabi's questioning stares at the baby and his finger.

"Clan duties," Hanabi corrected, "now that onee-chan's been made the head of the clan, she's got a lot to do right now. And that's why you're taking care of her daughter, _my_ niece and _your_ niece-in-law, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Naruto bobbed his head slowly in remembrance. He would have likely scratched the back of his head as well, but currently both of his hands were... occupied, "but wait, you didn't answer my question. What're you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check up on how you were doing with little Tsubasa-chan here and making sure you hadn't screwed up," Hanabi crossed her arms and looked at Tsubasa in Naruto's arms, happily sucking away at his finger, "but... it looks like you're doing alright, so I guess I'll head back..."

"WAIT! T-take her with you, please! I-I can't take care of a baby!"

"Oh please, you're doing fine. Just think of it as practice for when we have our own family, alright?" After that, Hanabi turned around, and strode out of the office indifferently, in the same way she'd come in.

Naruto stared blankly at the now closed doors, before his mind finally realized what his fiancee had said, not registering that Tsubasa had giggled and finally let go of his finger.

"Wait, WHAT?"

* * *

><p>Aaaand that's a wrap. I hope you had fun reading it!<p>

Tsubasa is entirely made up, of course. As a future warning, there will be OCs further along the "timeline". Like... Naruto and Hanabi's children (hint hint). They aren't too important, but expect some of them to make a semi-regular appearance. Of course, nothing is really too important in this story.

As for updates, I know that as much as some of you would have me update everyday, I'm (probably) not going to end up doing that. At most, an update every few days. At the latest, once a week. Still, I'm writing these for fun for the most part, so please don't get angry when I don't update for a prolonged period of time. I've mentioned this back in chapter 1 as well.

Of course, I doubt people would get angry over a guy not updating a drabble/one-shot collection.

Hanabi: Any and all constructive criticism are welcome and encouraged, so that this guy doesn't somehow butcher my character in the future.

Naruto: Not that it's hard to ruin your character. You've only had one real appearance in the manga, you know...

Hanabi: Sh-shut up!


	4. Burnt Ramen

Continuity! The first chapter to make good on that continuity thing. The first of many, of course. The more chapters I do, the more details and references I can make for continuity.

Anyway, this takes place before the first chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Burnt Ramen: The Face of Evil<strong>

Naruto believed he could stand up to any evil. That there was no evil he could not stand up to. That there was no evil that good could not triumph over.

That he could beat anything that came his way.

But...

He was wrong.

Today... today he was proven wrong.

This was the most evil thing he'd ever seen. Ever experienced. Ever faced.

"NO, NOT MY RAMEN!"

The fire... why the fire...?

One could go around and ask any passerby, any normal civilian... ask them: what did instant ramen smell like when it's set on fire?

No one would be able to answer you.

Naruto could.

And it would be a smell that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"NOOOOOooooo... N-noo... No..." Naruto broke down into sobs, as his precious collection of ramen, stocked up and stored up to the thousands, burned in-front of his eyes... unable to do a thing.

"This is for your own good, Naruto," his nemesis, a younger girl, five years his junior, stared impassively at the giant bonfire of ramen and spoke to the tied up and bound blond behind her.

"How could you DO something like this? This... this is EVIL! PURE EVIL!" He screamed, his voice raw with emotion.

"Sorry, Naruto, but we all agreed that this was for your own good..." A deep male voice apologized from behind him... the very person who had captured and bound him, keeping him in place and preventing him from doing a thing. Naruto's hands struggled against the rope keeping his hands tied around the back of the chair he sat upon, but to no avail.

"Kakashi-sensei... wh-why... m-my ramen... my rameeeeen..." Naruto struggled against his bonds, staring wide-eyed at the giant fire as his nose, against his will, got scent of the smell of burning plastic and noodles.

Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder, partly to force him to settle down, partly in comfort.

"Look on the bright side, Naruto. It's not like we're banning you from eating at Ichiraku's... it's just that we agreed that it was... better for you to stop eating instant ramen," a feminine voice, belonging to a teenager his age with a head of pink hair.

"Sakura-chan... I..." The blond looked at his teammate, and slumped, the energy suddenly leaving his body.

They were right, but...

... That didn't mean they had to burn his ramen.

Right in front of him.

Right before his eyes.

"Y-you didn't have to set it all on fire..." He resigned, "you c-could have just asked, Hanabi-chan..."

"I know," said the younger Hyuuga, "but I didn't do that anyway."

"But... WHY?"

"This way was faster... and it gets the point across better, too," Hanabi shrugged, unnaffected by the sight of the giant burning pile of ramen.

"F-fas-faster? THAT'S why? Y-you're EVIL! YOU MONSTER!" Naruto glared at the Hanabi, who turned around to face him.

She stared at the blue-eyed ninja silently for a moment, unnerving him as her white eyes seemed to stare through him and into his soul. He gulped, feeling a drop of apprehensive sweat drip down his cheek. He paid no attention to the fact that he was sweating most likely due to the fire in-front of him and in close proximity.

"Well, which would you rather give up? Ichiraku's ramen, or instant ramen?" Hanabi crossed her arms, and looked expectantly at the blond.

"Of course, it's fine if you don't answer," Sakura giggled, looking at the tied up ninja knowingly, "we already know your answer anyway. There's no way in hell that you'd give up Ichiraku's ramen."

Naruto looked up at his pink-haired teammate and opened his mouth to retort, but found there was nothing he could say.

She was right after all.

"Not that I blame you, Naruto. Ayame-chan IS pretty cute..." Kakashi giggled pervertedly. Naruto turned to him and saw that he'd gotten out his favorite orange book once more.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted, affronted by Kakashi's comment. She glared at him, though it was rather half-hearted, as she knew she could do nothing anyway.

"Anyway..." Hanabi coughed lightly, "Naruto, from now on you are not allowed to buy or eat instant ramen, let alone stock it in your apartment," Hanabi stepped closer to the blond, patting his head a few times, as if he were but a child.

"Can't we come to a compromise?" Naruto looked up at her tearry-eyed, giving her the best puppy-dog eyes he could muster.

"... N-no," Hanabi looked away, somewhat... flustered.

'_It's working! The puppy-dog eyes never fail!'_ He cheered in his mind. He widened his eyes further, forced tears to come forth, and looked up at her in an angle so that his eyes would reflect more sunlight. For added affect, he jutted out his lower lip in a pout.

This was better than his best.

And, dare he say it...

The best puppy-dog eyes look in the world.

Sakura, who got a good look at it, let out an audible "aww" as she felt her will slip away at the sight of Naruto's technique.

Kakashi, who was behind Naruto, continued to read his book, uncaring of the situation, as always.

And Hanabi...

Though she'd turned away, the white-eyed girl couldn't help but glance over in his direction out of utter curiosity.

That would be her undoing.

Hanabi, now that she'd seen it, could not turn away. Could not look away. She could only look in Naruto's direction, unable to pull her all-seeing eyes away from the ultimate counter technique to the Byakugan.

The long-haired Hyuuga twitched, holding in her voice as she fought tooth-and-nail against the technique (by trying to turn away, of course), but she was fighting a losing battle.

And...

Lose, she did.

"Oh... alright, I guess we can compromise..." She finally relented. Anything to make him end that dreaded technique.

"YES!" Naruto shouted for joy. He would have jumped for joy instead, but he was currently tied up. He ended the dreaded puppy-dog eyes jutsu, much to Hanabi's joy.

Little did he know, that would be his undoing.

"I guess you can still buy instant ramen..." Hanabi placed her hand to her cheek, as if in consideration.

"What? ALRIGHT! Thank you, Hanabi-chan, you won't regret th-"

"Well, you can, but I'll come over and burn any instant ramen you buy anyway. How's that?"

"WHAT? NO! That's... that's not FAIR!"

"A compromise is a compromise, Naruto. You lose this time."

Naruto glared darkly at Hanabi, but remained silent.

Oh, he'd let them win this time. He'd buy his instant ramen alright.

All he had to do was hide it... away and out of sight...

Of course...He didn't know that Hanabi would be expecting him to do that.

Hanabi smirked as she turned around. Oh, Naruto, you're so predictable...

* * *

><p>Aaand that's a wrap. A bit of a longer wait, this time, but oh well.<p>

I blame Community. I recently got around to watching Community, an American television show. It's great. I can't wait for season 3 to air.

PS. Annie the best, Britta suxxorz. JeffxAnnie fans unite!

Naruto: Nice grammar. I thought you were a writer.

Hanabi: He's joking around, idiot. Anyway, all constructive criticisms welcome! We hope you enjoyed this!


	5. Sweet Denial: Part 1

This is sort of becoming a weekly thing, huh? I can do weekly. Weekly's good with me. Though if I'm feeling like it, I'll try to update earlier, of course.

Anyway, continue recent trends, this takes on Naruto's PoV again.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Sweet Denial: Part 1<strong>

It came to him so suddenly.

It dawned on him so brightly, yet with this knowledge came dark clouds.

He couldn't admit to it, of course not. If he did so, he would be admitting to the fact that he was...

"Dude, Naruto... you're whipped."

No, he'd denied, it wasn't true.

He wasn't whipped!

He was a perfectly normal alpha male human being! He didn't bow down to nobody!

"No, man, you're totally whipped."

"I am NOT, Kiba! Shut up! I-I'm going to be the Hokage! I CAN'T be whipped!"

It all started when Naruto's good friend of many years just suddenly brought up the subject.

Just like that.

And, just like that, Naruto's world was turned upside-down.

"It's not even just Hanabi, dude. There's Tsunade-sama, Sakura... hell, I bet you couldn't even stand up to Ino or Hinata," Kiba smirked haughtily at Naruto, as if to mock him.

"Y-yeah, well, I know your mom and sister's got you whipped any day, dog-face," Naruto retorted irritatedly.

"What was that, dead-last!"

Naruto and Kiba lunged at each other, grappling and throwing punches and kicks where they could see an opening. The pair fell to the ground as the wrestled against each other, rolling across the dirt path the two had been walking on. Though they each got their own fair share of hits in, nothing serious was thrown; it was a mere scuffle between friends. A joke fight, if you will.

It wasn't long before the fight broke up, and the blond and brunette got back up to their feet, dusting off the dirt and dust from their clothes.

"... Tsunade-obaa-chan and Sakura-chan are strong, okay? I can't help it..."

"My mom and sis are scary, alright? Really scary..."

Naruto and Kiba had admitted to each other at the same time.

Kiba paused after realized what the other had said, before laughing out loud alongside each other.

"You're right, Naruto. I guess we're both whipped, huh?"

"Damnit Kiba, I'm not whipped!

This was only the start. When Naruto would look back on this incident, he would curse Kiba for taking away his sweet, blissful ignorance.

* * *

><p>It was several hours after, and Naruto had all but forgotten about what Kiba had said to him. The blond yawned as he waited for his instant ramen to finish cooking (three very, very long minutes, of course), and was beginning to doze off when he'd heard the door to his apartment close, turning his attention to his towards that direction.<p>

"Oh, Hanabi-chan, welcome back," he waved lightly at his roomie, before once again propping his elbow onto his table and using his hand to hold up his head.

"Hello Naruto... are you making instant ramen again? I really wish you'd stop eating that so much..." The white eyed girl sighed as she placed her hands on her hips, staring at the cup of instant ramen that was just about done and the blond who'd made it impassively.

"But it's soooo good Hanabi-chan!"

Hanabi sighed once more, and walked over to the small table, and placed her hands on it and leaned over towards Naruto.

"Naruto, tonight we're going to be eating out. Get something... healthier, perhaps... to eat instead, you understand?" There was a sharp tone in her voice, and the glint in her eyes all by shouted to Naruto that he should not disagree with Hanabi at the moment.

Of course, Naruto didn't always pay attention to such details.

"But Hanabi-chan, I just made ramen," he peeled the cover off of the now fully cooked instant ramen, "can't we do this tomorrow?"

Hanabi's eye twitched. Rather noticably, actually... not that Naruto noticed... or cared, for that matter.

"No, Naruto, we are going out today. Right now, in fact."

"But Hanabi-cha-"

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"_Now_."

"Yes ma'am."

Naruto stood up dejectedly, however before he sauntered off towards the door, he took one more longing look at his freshly cooked instant ramen.

"Can I at least finish the rame-"

"_No_, Naruto. Now hurry up!"

"Yes ma'am..."

The blond ninja and hokage-to-be walked ever so slowly over to the door to the outside world, before he stopped with his hand a few inches away from the doorknob. He turned around and looked at his girlfriend, and said...

"Well, can we at least get Ichirak-"

"NO! Now _go!_"

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

><p>And so, Naruto gone on an impromtu date with Hanabi, so to speak, as they went out for dinner at a decent restaurant. Hanabi had ordered a salad.<p>

For both of them.

And Naruto could not refuse.

"_What?_ I can't eat this! You know I hate this stuff, Hanabi-chan!" Naruto had stood from his chair and complained immediately towards his girlfriend, who took it all in stride and calmed replied.

"You _will_ be eating this Naruto. It's healthy and good for you," the Hyuuga glanced pointedly towards his chair and then back at him, a signal for him to sit down.

"Bu-!"

"Sit _down_, Naruto."

"... Yes ma'am..." Naruto sat slowly back down on his chair, slumped forward as he radiated an aura of depression.

"Oh, lighten up Naruto, it's not like I'm asking you to eat this everyday."

"... Yes ma'am..."

Aside from that small outburst, the meal went along rather smoothly, though a bit slowly due to Naruto's snail-like eating pace.

It was nighttime now, and Naruto and Hanabi had returned to their apartment. Hanabi returned to her own room, and Naruto, to his.

He lay on his bed in contemplation about today, his mind suddenly remembering his conversation with Kiba in the afternoon, and what had happened this evening.

'_I... I can't be whipped! I'm gonna be the Hokage! What kind of Hokage is whipped! I'd be the laughingstock of the entire shinobi nation!_' Naruto thought to himself as whipped his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

'_Yeah, yeah... there's no way I, Uzumaki Naruto, could be whipped! Tsunade-obaa-chan and Sakura-chan may be super strong, but I don't have to listen to them! I don't have to keep listening to Hanabi-chan's orders! That's right, I only have to listen to myself...!_'

Feeling his blood start to pump, Naruto began to rile himself up, and he started to shout.

"That's right! I'm a man's man! Uzumaki Naruto bows down to no woman! I listen to no one but mysel-!"

"SHUT UP, NARUTO! _Some_ of us want to sleep here!" There was a banging on the wall, coming from Hanabi's room.

"Y-yes ma'am..." Naruto whispered meekly, sitting back down on his bed.

As the orange ninja sat there, in the dark and wearing pajamas, he came to a realization...

'_Oh god, I'm whipped._'

* * *

><p>As you may or may have not noticed by the chapter title, this is going to be a distinctly multi-part... arc? I guess you could call it an arc. It's... sort of self-contained, but a lot more open-ended or less conclusive then usual.<p>

The next chapter will be a continuation of this one, so look forward to it.

Hanabi: Constructive criticisms and opinions are all welcome!

Naruto: Pfft, I have an opinion: this suc-

WELL! I hope you enjoyed it. Until next week!


	6. Sweet Denial: Part 2

Welcome to this weeks installment of this arc! To be honest, I'm not all that proud of last weeks chapter, but I didn't hate it enough to completely redo it either. However! I think this chapter is much better. Good job, me! Yay, me!

... Okay, I'll stop.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Sweet Denial Pt.2: Rebellion<strong>

Among other things, Naruto was a very proud person. Towards himself, and others, he had always boasted to be great; strong and capable of great feats. While at first he had not the skills to back up those words, with great effort and the help of others, he now stood above others as a role-model and a hero, and some would even say he stood at the top.

Naruto was a man of lots of pride.

So when his friend Kiba had... insinuated... that he was somewhat less of a man, he couldn't take it sitting down, so to speak.

He needed to prove that he was man amongst men...

And while he did love his girlfriend Hanabi greatly, there was only one way to prove he was a MAN!

And that, of course, is...

Rebellion.

"No, Naruto, you are NOT getting that instant ramen. Put it down... _now_, " Hanabi hissed as Naruto's hand inched over towards the instant ramen on shelves within the store.

"But _Hanabi_ I want the _ramen_," Naruto whined, a child-like tone in his voice.

"_No_ Naruto, you need to stop. This addiction is getting the better of you!" Hanabi stepped forward towards the currently-suffering-from-withdrawal-syndrome blond hesitantly, testing the waters to make sure she didn't set him off.

"_-_"

"_Be quiet_ Naruto, and stop acting like such a baby!" Hanabi took another step towards Naruto, slightly more confident that he would not go ballistic, and reached out to grab his hand.

"No!" Naruto pulled his hand back, "you know what! Th-this is, uh, this is..."

Hanabi raised an eyebrow as she waited for him to finish, but kept an eye on his hand and the ramen.

"... A tyranny! Yeah! I won't put up with this anymore, Hanabi-chan! This is war! I-I'm going to, r... re... rebe... uh, what was the word again?" He looked curiously toward his smarter significant other, hoping to find out the answer from her.

"Rebel?" She offered, uncaring of Naruto's... fit. She might as well play long with his little game.

"Yeah, that's it! Thanks Hanabi-chan! I'm going to rebel against you!" Naruto grinned, pleased that he now knew the word he wished to know, "just you wait, you'll be sorry!"

"Yeah, sure. Now can you step away from the ramen?"

"Oh, yeah, sure... I mean, no! Stop that! You can't order me around anymore!" The blond huffed, annoyed, and turned around in order to leave the store, "I'm leaving! I have to go... rebel! Yeah!"

Uzumaki Naruto stomped off, leaving his white-eyed girlfriend behind. She sighed, exasperated, but shrugged it off and continued her shopping.

"Well, I wonder how long he'll keep this up?"

A "man amongst men" indeed...

:ooooo:

"Naruto, you open this door right now or I'll...!" Hanabi pounded on their apartment door a few times, annoyed at her boyfriend's behavior.

"No! You can't make me!" Came a muffled shout from within the doors. Hanabi scowled, and stepped away from the door.

After Naruto's declaration at the store (in front of several people at that, and quite possibly ruining his "cool" reputation!), Naruto was rather quiet for the next few days, making Hanabi wonder if he had forgotten all about the incident.

However today she had left to visit her ill father with her sister and help care for him, leaving Naruto alone in the apartment for most of the day.

When she returned, which was well into the evening, Hanabi had attempted to enter her apartment only to find out that...

Naruto had changed the locks!

While she was gone, it seemed Naruto had installed new locks (a small part of her was surprised he knew how to do it, and properly too!). Whether he had the new lock prepared beforehand, or he had went out to get it was a mystery to her, but Hanabi had her money on the former.

"Naruto, what are you even going to eat? I can't cook for you if I'm out here, you know," the Hyuuga attempted to remain calm and spoke slowly, but loudly, in order for the blond idiot to hear her.

"I can make myself ramen!"

Hanabi sighed and rubbed her temples in a circular motion. Just where did he even get the ramen? She was sure she'd thrown all of it out, and was always on the look out for more hidden stashes... well, it was probably more likely that he went out and got some today while she was gone, so she didn't worry about it much.

"Naruto... If you don't open this door, you are going to be _very sorry_," Hanabi threatened, yet remained composed. Her words carried with them an ominous tone, threatening great harm towards her target.

"I said no! Go away!" Naruto's voice was quiet and muffled, and Hanabi could have sworn she heard him blow a raspberry at her...

The dark-haired teen had half-a-mind to just kick down the door, but since it WAS half her apartment after all, and since she didn't want to make a scene this late, she opted against it.

Instead, she sighed and gave up... for now.

"Okay Naruto, you win... I'm going to go stay over at the Hyuuga manor tonight..." Hanabi relented, "_however_, when I come back tomorrow and this lock isn't changed back or you don't let me in, you are going to be in _serious trouble_, you understand?"

The white-eyed teen waited for a reply, but received none, causing her to sighed yet again.

She shrugged and she turned away from the door and headed down the stairs...

However, just then, as she stepped on the first step down, she was splattered with water.

'_What on earth... Is this one of Naruto's pranks? There was no string or switch, though..._' Hanabi thought to herself as she tried to clear to eyes of the water, wondering if she was so unlucky as to have someone would dump a bucket of water...

That is, until she noticed it.

That it wasn't water at all.

... But paint.

And that confirmed for Hanabi one thing.

Hanabi attempted to shake as much paint off of her as she could, before leaving down the stairs as if nothing had happened... however, if one looked, one could notice her steps being noticably rigid, and her fists were clenched tightly.

"Oh, if it's a war you want, Uzumaki," Hanabi growled, "it's a war you're going to get..."

* * *

><p>Aaand that's a wrap for this week. I'm a lot more pleased with the second half, to be honest. It's where the writing started flowing more. Perhaps it's because I had a good picture of where I wanted the rest of the chapter to go? Or perhaps writing from Hanabi's point-of-view is easier...? Who knows!<p>

Naruto: Psh, it should be an honor to be able to write from my point-of-view!

Hanabi: Ignoring the ego-maniac... we encourage all constructive criticism. We hoped you enjoyed this chapter.


End file.
